


The Concept of Babysitting

by DarkMasterofCupcakes



Category: Don't Hug Me I'm Scared (Short Film)
Genre: Babysitting, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-03
Updated: 2018-02-22
Packaged: 2018-09-14 09:18:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9173200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkMasterofCupcakes/pseuds/DarkMasterofCupcakes
Summary: Two-Shot Gift-Fic. After Paige and Tony decide to go out for the night, they leave their daughter in the care of their old "Students". What will it be like for Red, Art, and Dennis to look after what is basically a monster toddler? Slight Padlock, but mostly family and friendship interactions.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kashimalin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kashimalin/gifts).



June woke up very early; or, at least, she thought it was early. The toddler lacked the inherent knowledge about time that her father had always possessed, so she had no way of knowing just what time of day it , considering the silence that hung in the air, it probably was safe to assume that it was very early in the morning.

After all, while her mother would tend to sleep in more often than not, it was a rare day indeed that her father was not awake exactly one hour after the sun had risen. And while he was usually fairly quiet as he performed his morning routine, there was always at least a bit of noise to indicate that someone was up and about.

There was a bit of light shining through the window and into her room, so she was almost certain that the sun was up, but she had no way of telling how much time had actually passed between the sun rising and her waking up. Which meant there was no way of knowing how long she would have to wait in her cot before someone came to let her out.

Then again...maybe she didn't have to wait at all.

It had been over three months since her first birthday - three months, two weeks, and five days to be exact; maybe she was old enough now to let herself out of the cot. There was only one way to find out for sure.

June grasped the bars of the cot tightly, using the grip to help steady herself as she got into a standing position. Once her feet were flat on the mattress, she took one hand off the bar and placed it upon the railing, taking hold of that instead. Her other hand followed shortly after. So far, everything was going according to plan. But, of course, she had yet to get to the difficult part of the operation - actually getting her legs, and by extension, the rest of her body, over the railing.

She hesitated for a moment, trying to be as quiet as she could, to see if she could hear any indication that her father (or even her mother, since there were times when they switched up who woke up first) was coming to let her out.

Hearing nothing, June decided to go back to her task.

Still holding tightly to the railing of the crib, she lifted her leg, attempting to move it up to and over the railing. Unfortunately, before she was able to get one leg up high enough, she lost her balance and tumbled back onto the mattress with a small thump.

So much for that plan. Oh, well, that just meant she had to go back to her first idea for getting out of the cot.

Still sitting on the mattress, she opened her mouth and let out a small "Meh" followed shortly after by the same noise, just slightly louder. She waited for a second and looked at the door, wondering if perhaps those noises had been enough to rouse and summon at least one of her parents. When the door showed no sign of opening, June simply began to scream, repeating the same sound over and over again, her voice becoming louder and more high-pitched with every utterance, until the sound coming from the toddler's mouth was comparable to the ringing of a very loud and very annoying alarm clock.

Despite the volume of her cries, within a few seconds, she was able to hear the sound of somebody moving around outside, even occasionally hearing that same person muttering somewhat irritably under their breath. Even though she knew now that somebody was coming to get her, June did not cease her crying until she actually heard her bedroom door swing open. As soon as she heard that sound, she instantly stopped crying.

"Daddy" she said cheerfully, reaching her arms up in a silent demand to be picked up and held. Tony sighed heavily, rubbing the remaining sleep out of his eyes as he walked over to the cot. He picked up the young toddler and held her close.

"Now, June" he began, making sure that she was looking at him before continuing to speak, "could you really not have waited a few more moments for me to wake up on my own?"

June simply stared at him for a few seconds, sticking the tip of her finger into her mouth as she blinked her large, scarlet-colored eyes, seeming to consider what her father had just said. After a moment of thought, she simply smiled and shook her head, which caused Tony to sigh once again.

"You really are too much like your mother" he said, sounding slightly exasperated, though he was unable to keep the corners of his mouth from turning upwards ever so slightly.

The toddler simply smiled in response, resting her head against the man's shoulder as he carried her out of her bedroom.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"We really should go out tonight. It's been too long since we've had a chance to have some fun together…just the two of us" Paige said off-handedly to Tony as they sat in the kitchen of their flat. She didn't even look up at him as she spoke, focusing instead on the sketchbook she held her in hands, which currently held a half-finished drawing of…something on the front page.

Despite knowing she wasn't looking at him, the time-keeper immediately turned his attention to her when she spoke to him.

"The last time we had a night out together was just over two weeks ago" he pointed out to her, briefly looking away as he handed the bottle of grey liquid to the fussing toddler in the highchair, who instantly calmed and began to drink. "I think whether that's 'too long' can be debated, Paige."

Tony grabbed his mug of nearly-black coffee and took a seat next to the woman, taking a sip of the steaming liquid before adding to his statement.

"More importantly, if we were to decide to go out tonight, we would have to take the baby along with us, which would obviously be detrimental to whatever you seem to have planned. Unless you know of somebody who would be able to watch over her with no warning whatsoever?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the corners of her lips turn up in a grin; at that moment, he knew immediately what she was thinking before she even had the chance to open her mouth.

"I'm sure they'll be happy to watch her for a few hours. After all, it's not as if they really do all that much in their free time. It'll give them something to keep them from getting too bored." she said, keeping her attention on the drawing she was working on even as she spoke.

Tony was about to respond, but a sudden squeal interrupted him before he had the chance. The sound was enough to get both of their attentions, and they turned their heads to look at the source.

Apparently finished with her bottle for the time being, June had placed the half-filled bottle on the tray in front of her, and was now looking at her parents with an almost excited expression on her face; almost as though she understood exactly what – and more importantly, who – they were talking about. She let out another excited sound, practically beaming as she turned her head to look specifically at Tony, her expression changing from excited to hopeful.

"See?" Paige questioned, her own eyes glittering as though they were actually made of silver, "June wants to spend a little time with those three, too. And, really, do you want to disappoint her?"

Tony scowled a bit, already knowing that he was going to be unable to refuse. It wasn't that he didn't want to spend some "quality time" with his partner; he just didn't enjoy the rescheduling that always came along with her last-minute suggestions. He voiced his issues to her, receiving a shrug in response. "If changing your schedule really bothers you that much, then I can help you after we get back home," Paige promised, reaching over to run her fingers over his jaw in an affectionate gesture. Tony couldn't help but smile slightly at both the offer and the gesture, even though he knew Paige would be able to offer little assistance when it came to rearranging his schedule for the rest of the week.

"Well, I suppose I can't deny that it would be nice to go out for a few hours" he admitted. "However, perhaps it would be best if we take an hour or so to prepare, before we go."

Paige stood up then, smiling at his acceptance of her last-minute plans.

"Sounds like a plan" she said, leaning down slightly to kiss him on the cheek, leaving a dark lipstick mark that he was quick to wipe away with a tissue, to her slight chagrin.

However, as she knew that arguing would only risk the chance of him changing his mind about the two of them having a night out together, she decided not to say anything about it. Instead, she walked over to June and lifted the baby out of her highchair.

"Come on, sweetie," she said to the red-haired toddler as she picked her up. "Let's go and play while your daddy finishes getting ready."

Tony couldn't help but shoot her a glare at the implication that she wasn't going to be preparing as well, receiving an almost playful smirk and shrug for his trouble.

After the two girls had left the kitchen, Tony finished his mug of coffee before going off to complete both the preparations for that night and his new schedule for the rest of the week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: "Don't Hug Me I'm Scared" and all characters from it are owned by Joseph Pelling, Becky Sloan, Blink Industries, and the THIS IS IT COLLECTIVE, not by me. I do own the character of June the Calendar (or, at least, I own this particular version of the character), and the idea for this story, however.
> 
> This is part one of two of a little two-shot request/gift fic for my good friend Kashimalin. Next chapter is where we'll be meeting up with our favorite puppet students: Red, Art, and Dennis. How are they going to manage taking care of June while Paige and Tony go out and have some fun? Let's just wait and see what happens in part two.


	2. Chapter 2

The sound of knocking coming from the other side of the front door was enough to take Art's attention away from the television; it was rare for anyone to visit them at this time of day, and while he knew that Dennis would be home from school at any time now, the boy had a key – he didn't need to knock to get inside the flat.

"Are you expecting any guests today?" he called to Red, who was in the kitchen trying to figure out what they would be having for dinner that evening.

"Guests? Not that I can remember. Why?" Red responded, his calm voice changing ever so slightly in order to show that he was just as confused about the current situation as his friend was. At the confirmation that Red had not been expecting any guests that he had neglected to tell him about, Art felt his stomach drop and his heart jump into his throat for a split second as he began to guess who was on the other side of the door. For a moment, he stayed silent, almost hoping that they would decide the visit wasn't worth it, and just leave.

Unfortunately, the next moment brought a series of rapid knocks, each one louder than the last.

Knowing that his original plan wasn't going to pan out, Art swallowed to clear his throat, before taking a breath and walking to the door, hesitating just slightly before opening it. To his slight surprise, not only were Tony and Paige standing in the hallway, but resting in Paige's arms was a young toddler, who seemed to almost be studying Art as he stared at the three of them. Seeing that Paige and Tony had brought their daughter with them, Art became a little more unsure of what was going to happen; though he could narrow it down to two of the most likely scenarios. Either Tony and Paige had gotten bored and were planning to give Red and Art an "extra lesson" (something that was thankfully very rare, though not something that either of them ever wished to have experienced in the first place), or they were only stopping by to drop something off.

"Here you are" Paige said with a slight smiling, answering Art's unspoken question by handing June over to the young man, who silently took the child, knowing better than to protest.

While his partner handed over the baby, Tony simply placed a small bag on the floor next to Art, who barely even noticed the action. The green-haired man wanted to say something, but found himself unable to force any kind of sound from his mouth, even when he was able to open it.

"We'll be back later tonight. I trust you're well aware of what we expect in regards to how she's cared for" Tony said, his voice fairly calm as usual, but dripping slightly with just enough menace to make Art's blood run cold.

The feeling of ice running through his veins only intensified when he caught a look at Paige's face; while it looked more or less the same as usual, the look in her eyes was more than enough for him to get the unspoken message. However, almost as quickly as Art had noticed it, her expression changed again as she turned her attention to her daughter, who was twisting slightly in Art's arms in order to look at her parents.

"Bye-bye June bug" the creative monster cooed, gently cupping the toddler's chin before placing a kiss on her cheek, causing her to smile and coo happily in response. "Have fun while Mummy and Daddy are out, alright?"

A part of Art's mind wanted to ask where the two of them would be going, and what they planned on doing, but before the thought made it to his lips, another part of his brain reminded him that he most likely did not want to know. The same thing applied to the brief thought he had of asking what kind of "fun" Paige was hoping her daughter would have while in the care of Art and his friends. Instead, he just decided to keep his mouth shut, only nodding his head in response when Tony informed him that they would be returning to pick up June in a few hours – and forcing himself to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat and nodding again when the much taller man "requested" that his daughter be well-taken care of while in their care.

Seeming to be satisfied with the nod that came from the other man, Tony turned his attention to June, allowing the child to grab hold of his gloved hand, before gently prying his hand free from her grasp and giving her a pat on the head, which she seemed to enjoy.

The two monsters seemed ready to leave when Paige's eyes suddenly seemed to literally light up, and she wiggled her fingers in a little wave, confusing Art slightly until she said, "So nice to see you again, Red. Sorry we can't stay and chat for a bit, but we really should be going. You boys know how Tony can be about 'wasting time' and all that nonsense."

Tony looked rather annoyed at his partner for a moment, but he still took hold of her hand and pulled her away, briefly reminding the two babysitters that they would be back later to pick up their daughter, before closing the door.

Once the sound of their footsteps faded away, Art picked up the bag that Tony had left on the floor, and walked over to Red. The taller man had been partially hidden by the doorway, and it only took Art a moment to realize why; in his hand, he was holding a very sharp knife, and based on how his knuckles were still darkening to their usual shade of red, it was apparent that he'd been gripping the handle of the blade very tightly.

For a moment, Art considered asking his friend whether he'd been holding the knife from the start, or if he had grabbed it when he'd realized who exactly had been at the door. Instead, he decided to ask a different question: "Have you decided what to make for dinner?"

"Oh, uh, yes" Red answered, walking away to put the knife back in the drawer. "I thought I'd just make some roast chicken and potatoes for the two of us, maybe some steamed vegetables if you wanted any; and some spaghetti for Dennis. Might be best to keep things simple tonight, considering…"

He trailed off, though even without considering the fact that his attention was now on the red-haired toddler in his friend's arms, Art was well-aware of what he was talking about, and nodded; showing agreement to both his last statement, and his suggestion for their dinner for that night. A slight whining noise from June caught the attention of the two men, and they looked down to see what was the matter.

June looked around the room, whimpering softly, before once again facing forward (and, by extension, facing Red).

"…Ello?" she seemed to question, sounding almost like she was about to cry.

Though confused as to why she seemed to be so upset by it, the red-haired man quickly raised his hand in greeting, offering a little "Hello" of his own. He hoped that would placate the baby; but instead, it seemed to have the opposite effect: her eyes seemed to darken from their normal scarlet to a shade that reminded him a little too much of blood, fresh tears were beginning to form in her eyes, and she was starting to pinch up her face in either frustration or anger.

"No!" she shouted. "Ello! Ello! Ello!"

Within seconds, she went from shouting whatever word she had been trying to say, to simply wailing; only briefly pausing between the repeated "Meh" sounds to get more air into her lungs so she could continue to scream. Fortunately, neither the volume nor the pitch of her cries was high enough to do any real damage, but listening to it (especially from such a short distance) was far from a pleasant experience.

Red had covered his ears the instant June began to cry, but Art had to delay doing the same for a few seconds – he had to actually place the screaming child on the ground before attending to the need to protect his own hearing, after all. Once they had both managed to protect their ears from the volume, they tried to figure out the solution to their newest problem: figuring out exactly what was making June so upset, and trying to quiet her down before their neighbors decided to call the police to complain about the noise.

However, before either of them could even try to suggest a solution, Red suddenly made what seemed like a very unwise decision: he removed a hand from his ears, exposing himself to the near-deafening cries of the little monster sitting on the floor in front of him. Art was about to ask what his friend was doing, but before he could open his mouth to ask/shout the question, Red spoke instead.

"Welcome home, Dennis" he said, as loudly as he could, in order to be heard over the screams.

As soon as Red had said those words, something incredible happened – June stopped crying. She looked up at Red, tilted her head in a questioning manner, and asked, "Ello?"

Without even waiting for an answer, she positioned herself so that she could see behind Art. And as soon as she spotted the young boy, she beamed gave an enthusiastic wave before pulling herself up to a standing position and stumbling over to him. As June toddled over to Dennis, Art watched, looking like he was trying to figure something out and muttering to himself. Finally, something seemed to dawn on him.

"I think she might have been trying to say 'yellow' before" he whispered to Red, who gave a small nod in response, though the expression on his face could only be described as slightly annoyed by his friend's apparent need to state the obvious. "I guess she just really wanted to see Dennis."

"Ello!" the red-haired toddler cheered when she was at the feet of the older child, holding up her arms in a silent demand to be picked up.

Dennis, being a very friendly child by nature, was more than happy to do as he was 'told', and lifted June into his arms, doing his best to adjust her so that they'd both be comfortable.

"Hi, June" he said, "Guess your mommy and daddy wanted us to watch you, huh?"

June nodded. Then she beamed and reached out to grab a hold of his nose, which seemed to surprise Dennis, as he took a slight step back as she did so.

"Ha biddy!" June squealed, giving his nose a squeeze. Seeing that the little monster seemed to have completely calmed down from her earlier, the two adults approached the children, Art rubbing his ears in an attempt to lessen the ringing sensation within them.

"Did you have a good time at school today?" Red asked.

Dennis nodded in response.

"Yeah" he said, his voice sounding a little strange and congested due to the fact that his nose was still being squeezed. "Everyone wished me a happy birthday, and I got a special card that let me get an extra pudding during lunch."

"That's nice to know" Art said with a smile, now that the ringing in his ears had finally faded.

Meanwhile, his companion had managed to not only convince June to release her hold on Dennis's nose – which seemed to have been fairly firm, based on the way the skin of the boy's nose changed color slightly once it was free – but also took her from Dennis altogether, with surprisingly little complaint. Unfortunately, that last part didn't seem to last very long at all. Though, other than taking on a slight exasperated expression, the red-haired man had pretty much no reaction. While the child in his arms began to squirm about in an attempt to free herself, he simply continued the conversation the three of them were having.

"The two of us," he began, nodding towards Art (at just the right time to avoid getting backhanded by June) "are going to be having roast chicken and potatoes for supper tonight. I was going to make you some spaghetti…unless you wanted something different?"

Before he had even gotten the last word out, Dennis was shaking his head hard enough that his caregivers momentarily worried that he was going to give himself whiplash. And, if the slightly dazed look on his face when he stopped was any indication, apparently he had shaken his head just a little too hard.

"No, thank you" he said, although it really wasn't necessary."I'd just really like spaghetti. Please."

The two adults shared a brief glance at their young charge's actions – and Red's expression quickly changed to one of exasperation as June managed to punch him in the jaw; not very hard, but enough to be an annoyance to the red-haired man. With a slight sigh and a deadpan tone, he said, "Fine, I'll put you down if that'll make you stop flailing around" and did just that.

The instant he let go on her, June toddled over to Dennis, moving quickly as if trying to use speed to make up for her lack of balance. As soon as she was close enough, the toddler took hold of the boy's overalls and used them to stabilize herself as she stood next to him. Art glanced at Red – who was rubbing the spot on his jaw that June had punched – and then looked back at the children.

"Do you have any homework for tonight?" he asked Dennis, receiving a shake of the head in response.

However, following a somewhat questioning look, the blue-haired boy bit his bottom lip and looked rather sheepish.

"Well...I do hafta do some reading, and I have a maths paper to work on. But it's only one, and I thought maybe I could do it later, before I go to bed?" Dennis explained, looking between Red and Art with a hopeful expression, though his gaze seemed to linger slightly longer on the green-skinned man.

The two men were able to resist the look that their ward was giving them – for about fifteen seconds in Red's case, and even less for Art. After that time passed, the two of them each let out a sigh in unison and nodded in agreement to Dennis's request.

"Alright, you can do your homework after supper, but no later than that, you understand?" Red told the boy in his most firm voice.

The little blue-haired boy just nodded enthusiastically, a small, excited noise coming from his closed mouth with every motion of his head. A sudden cry from June caught the attention of everyone else in the room, and they each looked down at where the toddler monster was standing, still holding onto the older child's overalls to help maintain her balance.

"You wanna go play up in my room?" Dennis asked, picking up the young girl with a bit of effort. "I bought some new crayons and markers and other art stuff with my allowance a little bit ago. We could draw some pictures if you want. Or just play with my toys until suppertime."

June let out a noise of delight at the suggestion, clapping her hands and bouncing slightly in Dennis's arms. With his suggestion approve, Dennis headed towards his bedroom, still holding an excited June in his arms. He stopped briefly as he walked to acknowledge a warning from Art – a reminder to not allow the little girl to play with any toys that contained small pieces, lest they have to worry about her putting them into her mouth (and the unspoken warning of what might happen should her parents return and discover what had happened in that event), but otherwise was quick to get inside the room.

Once inside, he placed June on the floor, commenting, "You know, you're really getting kind of heavy. I was getting sort of tired carrying you back there".

June didn't seem to take notice of what the older child was saying, instead walking – more like stumbling – over to the corner of the room, where a table had been set up with various art supplies, including crayons, colored pencils, markers, and all sorts of paints, as well as countless sheets of various kinds of paper. She bounced slightly, trying to reach the supplies on top of the table, only to find that the tabletop was just out of her reach. With that discovery, she then attempted to bridge the distance by climbing into one of the chairs that came with the table. Unfortunately, because the chair was pushed in, there wasn't enough room for the child to climb up, and trying to budge it in order to make more room didn't go over well at all. Getting frustrated with her lack of progress, June's face began to go as red as her hair…and then she started scream.

"Ello! Ello! Up, ello, up!" she shouted in Dennis's direction, alternating between flailing both of her arms and using one to gesture towards the table.

Her screams didn't reach the volume that they had gotten to when she had been demanding her friend earlier, but they were still quite loud and Dennis had to cover his ears to help keep them from hurting. Still, it was quiet enough for him to be able to speak above the cries, if only just barely.

"Okay, June – stop crying, please! I can help you up! You don't have to get so upset!" he yelled above the little monster's cries, trying to sound comforting despite the fact that he was screaming at almost the top of his lungs in order to be heard over the din.

Thankfully, it seemed like June heard him, as she soon quieted down. With the room once again quiet, Dennis took his hands off his ears, and pulled one of the chairs away from the table, allowing June to climb up and reach the art supplies on top.

As soon as she was seated – or, more accurately, standing, since she couldn't reach the supplies otherwise – Dennis went over to the other chair and sat down himself. Almost the instant she was able to get into the chair, June reached for a sheet of construction paper, as well as a number of crayons, and went to work on whatever project she had in mind. Dennis also grabbed some paper and crayons to do his own drawing, though it was fairly obvious which of the two was more invested in the current activity. For several moments, the two children worked on their respective projects in silence, Dennis just casually doodling while June seemed to be quite invested in her work, never taking her eyes off the paper except to occasionally glance up and grab a different color of crayon.

"What're you drawing, June? You look like you're working really hard on it, whatever it is" Dennis commented, leaning over in an attempt to get a better look at June's picture. For his effort, he received a noise of protest – which he could only compare to an animal's snarl – as well as a swat on the nose.

"No peek!" June screamed, doing her best to cover up her drawing, while also continuing to add to it. Dennis simply held up his hands in defense and went back to his own doodles.

After that little scene, he knew better than to try and press the issue, and despite being older, he knew he didn't want to make June angry; he'd learned first hand that she could bite rather hard if she got upset enough, and her teeth were frighteningly sharp, too.

A few moments passed in relative silence, when suddenly June let out another shriek – though thankfully, this one was of delight, rather than anger, and was therefore short-lived, though still quite loud.

"Ello! Ello, lookit! Lookit!" the girl demanded, slamming the tabletop with one hand to emphasize her point while holding up her completed drawing with the other.

Not wanting to make her upset by ignoring the demand, Dennis quickly looked up from his own page of doodles to see what she wanted to show him. And what he saw when he looked up was a surprisingly well-done (though still incredibly childish and somewhat messy) drawing of what seemed to be Dennis himself, standing in a grassy meadow dotted with splotches of different colors – red, blue, yellow, purple, various shades of green that stood out from that of the grass – and a bright sun in the blue sky. Scrawled across the top of the picture, taking up most of the sky that wasn't occupied by the sun, was a completely illegible scribble; clearly the girl's mother had taken the time to teach her how to draw amazingly well for her age, but didn't seem to care as much about educating her on how to write…or even what actual letters looked like.

Seeing that she had Dennis' attention, June beamed and exclaimed, "Ha biddy!"

She held out the drawing, which Dennis took to mean that she wanted him to take it. Considering the delighted noise June made when the drawing passed from her hands to his, it seemed like his assumption had been correct. Upon closer inspection, Dennis realized exactly what the drawing was meant to be – a sort of birthday card, and a present to him.

Touched by the gesture, he smiled at the little girl and placed his hand on her head – a gesture of affection that he'd learned from his father during his infrequent visits in the past.

"Thanks, June" he told her, receiving a smile in response. "I love it."

The girl's eyes seemed to brighten at this statement, and suddenly jumped off the chair, landing on the carpeted floor with a thud before quickly stumbling over to a small pile of plush toys that Dennis had left near the foot of his bed.

In truth, he had long outgrown most of the stuffed animals, but he just couldn't bring himself to part with them. Plus, whenever he and his caregivers had to watch June for the day, the toys would always offer her quite a bit of entertainment, as they were doing right now.

After reaching the pile of toys, June reached in a pulled out a brown teddy bear with a torn ear and patchwork vest, and began to play with it, making it do a sort of dance as she musically babbled a song with nonsense lyrics. She seemed happy enough just playing by herself for a little while, but soon enough she began to gesture for Dennis to join in the game.

Not knowing exactly what the game she was playing entailed, he simply walked over and plopped himself down next to her, figuring he'd just go along with whatever she seemed to want him to do. As soon as he sat down next to her, she dropped the bear she had been holding and again reached into the pile, this time pulling out a clown that was in surprisingly good shape, outside of missing the ruffles on the neck and cuffs of the costume and the colors being very faded from numerous washings.

She handed the clown toy to Dennis, and continued on with her game, which appeared to simply involve having the toys move around and have some sort of conversation…though Dennis was unsure of what exactly said conversation actually entailed.

Still, he followed along with June's prompts, occasionally changing the dialogue of his clown character in accordance with her reaction to whatever he tried first. The two of them continued to play for a while – though the subject of the game eventually shifted to what could only be described as a sort of wrestling match between the plush toys (more accurately described as June repeatedly smacking one toy with another while making fairly violet-sounding noises), and at one point Dennis putting on a short of impromptu puppet show with a few of the toys, much to June's delight.

Finally, the games had to come to an end when Red knocked on the door, announcing that it was time for all of them to eat supper. After creating a makeshift booster seat for the monster child, Red served everyone their food – roast chicken and potatoes with steamed vegetables for himself and Art; and a plate of spaghetti each for the two children. He also took the time to mix together a bottle of milk combined with calligraphy ink to go along with June's meal before sitting down to eat with the others.

The meal itself went rather well, with Red, Art, and Dennis having a conversation which spanned various topics from what Dennis was learning at school to new programs that Art had recently gotten into watching on the television; June would occasionally pop into the conversation, though more often than not she would just excitedly exclaim in gibberish in either agreement or protest to something one of the others had said.

In fact, the only real downside to the meal was that by the time June was done with the spaghetti she'd been given to eat, she – as well as the area in front of her – looked disturbingly like something out of a murder scene, with how the marinara sauce was splattered all about.

"I'll give her a bath" Red said as he got up from the table, picking up the squirmy toddler and carrying her away to the bathroom to do just that.

While his friend took on the task of cleaning up the messy toddler, Art took it upon himself to clear and clean up the table – with some help from Dennis, of course. Once the table was clean, Art reminded Dennis of his promise to do his homework after he had finished supper.

Dennis grumbled slightly under his breath – something about wanting just a few more minutes of fun before starting on the work – but soon enough grabbed his school bag and began working on the homework he'd mentioned earlier. For the most part he seemed fine on his own, only occasionally calling Art over to help him, when a question seemed particularly puzzling.

Soon enough he had completed the worksheet, and after a short discussion which ended with an agreement that he could do his reading homework as he was going to bed, Dennis joined Art in the living room, where the two of them just sat and watched the television for a while.

They were in the middle of one of Dennis's favorite cartoon shows when Red came into the room, carrying a now clean June (who was now dressed in a pair of footed pajamas that greatly resembled a piece of peppermint candy), and looking like he'd also gotten a bath, with how wet his hair and jumper were.

In response to Art's confused look, Red simply gave his friend a look that told him to not even ask, and placed June on the floor next to Dennis, before taking a seat in his chair and joining in on watching the television with his friends. June crawled into Dennis's lap, quickly making herself comfortable. She seemed to be watching the show as well…for a few moments, after which point she fell asleep, resting her head up against the boy's chest as she slumbered.

With June asleep, the three residents of the flat simply continued to watch the television in silence, turning down the volume slightly in order to lower the chances of waking the sleeping little monster.

It wasn't too long after this that they heard a knock at the door – a knock which caused each of them to flinch, and Dennis to tense up ever so slightly. They all knew who was likely on the other side of the door, and none of them were in a hurry to answer. Unfortunately, when they didn't answer after a few moments, the knocks repeated, this time louder and more rapidly. Not wanting to risk dealing with both a newly awakened and cranky monster toddler and the irritated creatures on the other side of the door, Red stood up from his chair and answered the door.

Sure enough, Paige and Tony were standing on the other side…and based on the various bloodstains on Paige's dress, the fact that her eyes had changed colored since they'd seen her earlier that day, and the barely noticeable specks of blood on Tony's jacket and gloves, he had a painfully good idea of what sort of activity they'd done on their little day out.

Red only had time to wonder whether they'd be hearing about the escapades of the monster couple on the evening news when the two basically invited themselves into the flat, with little more than a cursory greeting as they made their way inside. While Tony simply collected the bag of supplies that they had left when they dropped off their daughter, Paige made her way over to where Dennis was sitting with June sleeping on his lap.

"Did you have fun?" she asked the sleeping girl as she picked her up from Dennis's lap (not even paying attention to how the boy stiffened in response to her sharp nails coming so close to his body) and nuzzled her.

Still being fast asleep, June, of course, didn't answer, though Paige seemed to take the small smile that she gained as she slept as a sort of confirmation.

After Tony had collected both the bag and the supplies the two of them briefly thanked the three for keeping an eye on June and said their goodbyes before leaving.

With their former "teachers" gone, the two men and the boy relaxed, each letting out a breath that they hadn't even realized they had been holding. They then returned to the television, which they all watched until it was time for Dennis to go to bed, at which point it was just Art and Red left watching.

However, not long after this, the evening news came on, with the headline announcing that some poor man had been found in an alley, underneath was seemed to be an impromptu mural of some sorts.

Not needing or wanting to hear any more, Red quickly turned off the television and announced that he was going to bed; Art agreed and they each wished each other a good night before turning off all of the lights and retiring to their rooms for the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very sorry that this story took so long to complete – I had been very busy with work, as well as trying to work on another story. Plus, my inspiration for this particular story was often very fickle, so working on it was very hard. Still, I'm happy to have finally completed this little two-shot, and I hope you all enjoy the final result.


End file.
